Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Once Again, Inafune Expresses Desire To Continue Mega Man Legends

Having left Capcom, Keiji Inafune is large and in-charge at his new company, Comcept. With a handful of new projects in the works, Inafune still has his eyes set on recruiting an old favorite: Mega Man Legends 3. In an interview with Famitsu today, the former Capcom Global Head of production reaffirmed his desires to continue Legends 3 at Comcept.

In response to the question, "Out of every series you've worked on, which would you like to continue the most?", Inafune explained there are games creators wouldn't want to produce a sequel to. Citing Mega Man Battle Network, these are the games in which the story is completely concluded in a creator's mind. Ultimately, there is nothing left to tell. On the contrary, Mega Man Legends is a series and story he wants to continue for years to come.

"Honestly, I still wanna make it," says Inafune. Unfortunately, moving forward is easier said than done. Inafune cannot continue production unless Capcom officially commissions him. Nonetheless, the desire to make the game as his own is strong to this day.

"For a creator, the creation is like his child. With "King of Pirates" (Inafune's latest 3DS game), I wanted to state that fact on paper and make it official." After Legends 3's cancellation, Inafune saw fit to ensure all future projects were branded under his signature -- proof of ownership. In the case of King of Pirates, he's posted a copyright mark "KI (Keiji Inafune)" alongside the Marvelous AQL logo. For all intents and purposes the game is his.

With Legends 3 at Comcept, Inafune would no doubt see the game to completion, topped off with the blessing of his signature and ownership. Alas, nothing can be achieved unless Capcom gives him the greenlight. C'mon, guys, let's strike a deal here!

Looks like the whole development team just shut the door on a Battle Network 7 (in the most literal sense at least).

I wonder if OSS was the result of internal politics between the development team and the higher-ups, because I get the impression that some people in the development team simply stopped working on OSS halfway into development.

Man, that is one lengthy interview. Or maybe it's just the massive Japanese font.

Looking for: someone at NeoGAF or something to translate the whole thing in case there's something else in there.

You know, Capcom's actually benefiting from this. Look, they're getting free advertisements by 100,000 Strong, and at NYCC no less! AND they could simply sign either CyberConnect2 or Comcept to do it, and not spend a dime on "making" the game. Jeez.

This only shows how bad Capcom's Mega Man-related decisions are of late.

I think it's safe to say that if Capcom ever wanted to have Rockman DASH 3 made, they'd sooner give it to CyberConnect2 than they would Comcept. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that Inafune's departure from Capcom left a very sour taste in their mouths. Why do you think they've turned Rockman into a "nothing new, everything old" franchise? It's no different than Cartoon Network using old characters like Samurai Jack or Dexter in their games and specials. I'm fairly certain that Rockman is an archived property now, thanks in part to Inafune's passion. Mind you, he still got part of what he wanted -- the fans to rise as one to scorn Capcom, but we're still very much Rockman DASH-less, now aren't we?

Also, congrats on your new domain name: RockmanCorner.com. I got a little confused when the old URL redirected me to the new URL, but whatever. :P

@People who mentioned BN: Inafune may not want to continue it, but he's not in charge of the property anymore. That interview with the series producers at Capcom Unity a while back said they'd love to continue developing the idea (into an evolved property, they said).

I think I may know why Capcom canceled Universe and Legends 3 and now MM Duel Pack for Canada (Cough! Most negleted country in the world! Cough!) Crapcom canceled those games and they're losing lots and lots of money. There must be a reason why Capcom is canning those three games, but we have to wait and see to find out what it is.

But the point is, they canned those game and lost a huge chunk of money for doing the stupidest things, not to mention piss off a lot of MegaMan fans. There has to be a reason for it, either they're going bankrupt or are losing lots and lots of money. I have to thank a friend of mine for telling me this info. Hope this helps, Protodude.